March, 27 marks the day I first flew from Lyon to Barcelona, to complete a five month internship in a cosmetic company.
I remember being scared out of my life! Mainly because I was on my own, spoke very poor Spanish, didn’t know a soul in the city, and did not have a place to stay.
I had rented a room in a hostel for a few days, the time to find an apartment, and THAT was as frightening as being surrounded by a bunch of loud-crazy-drunk 20 year olds can get to an introverted girl. Or at least, that’s how I had envisioned a youth hostel to be: full of loud-crazy-drunk 20 year olds. And that is exactly why I had decided to be antisocial and booked a room of 4 beds, just for myself. Princess much? Maybe. But I was already under too much stress to be adding sharing a room with complete strangers to the equation. Hell nah!
However, the Hostel turned out to be the absolute best way to kick off my journey in Barcelona. – I’m happy I did book the room for myself though – I would go apartment hunting during the day, and would come “home” to a bunch of amazing people, with whom I would stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning, just talking about the most random things and sometimes, more serious topics were risen.
On my last day at the hostel, my stress level reached its peak, as I still had not found an apartment and did not want to spend more money on the hostel. I had seen a flat online that looked decent, so I decided to make an appointment to view it. To my surprise, the landlord spoke perfect English – thank goodness, I was so relieved that I wouldn’t have to try speaking Spanish! It was up to a good start. – I viewed the apartment that afternoon, and fell in love with the room.
The rent was much higher than what I had originally planned on paying, but the location was perfect. It was right across the street from Port Vell, a 15 mins walk to the beach, and all the shops. I was signed, sealed, delivered.
And as the landlord patiently explained, I was going to share the flat with three boys. – wait, what?! THREE boys? my mind went on overdrive. Been there, done that, I don’t want to live in a dirty flat. – Are they clean? I asked. Yes, she reassured me. “P is Australian, he is very nice to talk to, A is Italian, he is going to move in in a few days and R is German, his wife lives here as well, they’re all very nice and responsible.” I mean, the flat was clean so I believed her. I gave her the deposit, paid the first rent, and moved in the same day.
I was all settled in and could finally relax, and start enjoying everything Barcelona had to offer!
And it started with a tour of the famous Mercat de La Boquerria. Every single time I went there, I tried capturing on camera the beauty of this place… in vain! All the colors, the fruits, the sweets, the food. Everything is just so incredibly pretty that the photos just don’t do it justice.
Over the next posts, I will take you through my crazy adventure in the city, giving you plenty of ideas of where to go to have fun, relax, eat, and drink like a local in Barcelona.
Get your Bachata/Reggaeton moves ready! 😉
